Design retainers
A design retainer is an agreement between Make it Clear and your company to retain our design services on an ongoing basis for a specified amount of time.
Our design retainer can include all or some of our services within consultancy and research, UI/UX, or brand and design, without the need to negotiate individual statements of work for each project. Each retainer is tailored to meet your design needs and business objectives.
What is included in a design retainer package
A retainer is customised to fit your specific design requirements and business goals. What is included as part of the retainer, the amount of design, consultancy and project management time, and any other considerations will be discussed and agreed upon before any work starts. As we are an end-to-end UX/UI, branding and graphic design agency, all of our services can form part of a customised retainer package.
When is the right time to have a retainer?
If you have a roadmap of work and need ongoing, reliable, and cost-effective design support then a retainer can deliver the support you need. Also, if raising funds internally project-by-project takes time or you’re managing multiple suppliers, a retainer with one agency offering multiple services will get things done quicker and better.
What kinds of services are supported?
Design retainers work especially well when specific services are selected as a starting point for the scope of support needed during the period of the retainer. These of course can be reviewed periodically and adjusted to fit changing requirements. For example, to support the development of a website, app or platform, UX/UI related services such as UX wireframing, UI design, stakeholder workshops, usability testing and updating or maintaining a design system would be relevant. To support ongoing marketing campaigns, services such as event support, print design, video and animation, corporate presentations and social asset creation can be folded into the retainer.
How do you report on what’s been completed and hand over work?
Every design retainer has a dedicated account manager for your work and includes regular meetings and status reporting. Meetings are helpful to discuss what is currently being worked on and what is coming up as a requirement. Status reports detail the budget available and time used, as well as a breakdown of tasks and work in-progress and complete. A shared location is determined for where assets and deliverables should be stored in the format(s) required.
Benefits of design retainers
Consistency and priority
Cost-effectiveness and predictable budgeting
Long-term partnership and deep understanding
Why choose Make it Clear
At Make it Clear, we take an evidence-based approach to everything we do. Understanding your organisation, audiences, and the context in which they interact is paramount to the way we work and deliver a best-in-class user experience.
Case studies
For Cambridge University Press, we provided ongoing UX/UI consultancy and design to support the development of their design system and progressive re-platforming of their website onto Drupal.
For Virgin Media after establishing the design and customer installation instructions for their QuickStart offering, a retainer was set up to maintain the suite of guides, to receive and artwork changes from product managers, and to liaise with other partners in print and distribution.
Can I customise my design retainer package?
At Make it Clear, we work with you to tailor a package that fits your specific design needs, business objectives, budget, and roadmap for your product or services.
What happens if I don’t use all my design hours or exceed them in a month?
We’re very good at estimating (in collaboration with you) how much time is needed to deliver against your objectives, but there are instances where more or less time may be needed in a month. We typically build in a tolerance for going over time and look at time used in the round, carrying over any unused time to the next month. If the hours needed and used are out of sync for three months in a row, talking about an adjustment is worthwhile.
How is the ROI of a design retainer measured?
“What does success look like?” is a question we ask at the beginning of every engagement and this will depend on your context and goals. Some common ways to measure the ROI of a design retainer are cost savings, increased efficiency, design effectiveness, and whether objectives are achieved (or not).
What are the payment structures for design retainer services?
Design retainers are typically billed in monthly cycles.
How are emergency or rush projects handled within the retainer?
While predicting needs as far into the future helps plan studio time and the project, emergency or rush projects can always come up. We’ll always try to prioritise what is important and shift gears where we can. If the project requires external purchasing, such as printing or production, additional costs may be required to expedite those services.
What is the process for terminating a design retainer contract?
Retainer contracts are a minimum of three months and depending on the length of contract, will require a minimum notice period of one month to terminate.
